Wall structure



Patented Sept. 9, 1941 UNETED STATES R? E i T WALL STRUCTURE Application December 15, 1939, Serial No. 309,386

6 Claims.

Our invention relates to the walls of buildings, and consists in a wall structure particularly adapted for those buildings Whose internal wall surfaces must be of finished and pleasing appearance.

Considered purely from the artistic and economic View points, the well-known plaster wall has proved perfectly satisfactory. But structurally the, plaster wall has always been open to the objection that it cracks and spalls under normal conditions of service. Indeed, the art has for years been endeavoring to eliminate the development of cracks in such walls. Various forms of lathing have been used in the construction of the walls; various ways of securing th lathing to the framework or body of the wall, and various sorts of plaster-sustaining boards or sheets have been used without success. Always over a greater or less interval of time, the plaster body or facing of the wall develops cracks, and .even though the wall be finished with paper, or a heavy coating of paint. or'other finishing material, the cracks impair the appearance of the wall surface. More particularly, our invention consists in. a wall construction which, meeting all structural and artistic requirements, may with advantage be used to supplant the usual plaster walls. It is a wall construction that accommodates itself to such expansion and contraction as is incident to changes in atmospheric temperature and humidity. The wall of the invention will not crack. It is less costly than the usual plaster walls, and it possesses superior insulating and acoustic characteristics.

A wall structure embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing. Fig. I is a fragmentary view of such wall in perspective; and Fig. II is a view in perspective of a particular portion of the wall. Fig. III is a fragmentary View in perspective of a form of panel thatis particularly adapted for use in the construction of the wall.

Referring to the drawing, the wall of the invention includes a framework or base that carries the wall-forming materials. In this case the wall framework or base is shown to be wood studding l of usual and well-known form and arrangement.

Upon such studding board-like sheets, or panels, or slabs 2 are assembled edge to edge and secured, by means of nails 4, or other suitable means. The panels 2 may consist in plasterboard slabs, or slabs of-other known and suitable organic or mineral substances. We have used 5 face-to-face relation.

55 or of metal.

slabs purchased on the open market under the trade-name Celotex.

Preferably, we use a slab or panel of the structure illustrated fragmentarily in Fig. IIIa panel 5 that we have designed particularly for use in our aboard consisting of two fiat webs of paper applied and cemented to an intermediate corrugated web of paper. shown to consist in two sheets 9 and iii of corrugated paper board, assembled and integrated in In the assembled panel the two sheet or boards 9 and It are arranged with the corrugations of one extending at an angle of 90 degrees to the corrugations of the other, and advantageously the two sheets are rigidly integrated in spaced-apart, face-to-face relation. This feature of spacing is desirable in any case, whatever be the particular structure of the sheets or boards used.

Spacer strips l l of cardboard, wood, or other suitable material may be interposed between the two'sheets, and the integration of the assembly may be effected by gluing, cementing, or otherwise securing the sheets to such strips. Typically, each corrugated sheet El and i0 is in thickgb: ness, and the strips 'H are of such dimensions that the two sheets are spaced apart from A to in the assembled panel.

The bodies of the sheets or boards 9 and H! are rendered fire-resistant and impervious to moisture, but we need not involve this specification with such matters as are well known in the art. While a panel of this construction is for severalpractical reasons preferred for use in our wall construction. we do not limit ourselves to its use. But whatever be the particular details of construction, it is desirable that the panel shall be non-resonant, fire resistant, and of low-moisture-absorbing and heat-conducting characteristics.

5 outer finish of flexible sheet material is applied.

The inner facing 5 may be formed of flexible sheets of closely woven cloth, or of rubber coated fabric, but preferably it consists of flexible sheets of an open-work fabric, say of cotton, of hemp, The outer facing 6 may be formed In this case the panel is of thin sheets of such material as paper, metal foil, Cellophane, or the like.

Advantageously, we form the inner facing of sheets 5 of fine-wire screen, such screen as is commonly known as fly screen-the screen usually used in window screens and screen doors. Such material is of adequate structural strength and flexibility, and it is further valuable (in conjunction with the outer or finish facing 6) in that it provides in the ultimate wall structure certain of the advantages enjoyed in the acoustic construction described in United States Letters Patent No. 2,192,653, granted March 5, 1940 to the first-named of the inventors herein.

The sheets 5 of wire screen are applied in flush edge-to-edge relation upon the panels (2 or 2a, and it is important to note that the seams 50 between the sheets or sections of wire screen are staggered with respect to the seams 23 between the panels; that is, the sheets 5 overlap the seams 26. It is further important to note that the flexible sheets 5 are anchored to the panels at spaced-apart points in the expanse of the wall. Conveniently, wire staples 7 driven into the body material of the panels, along the margins of the sheets 5 and at occasional intermediate points, provide the desired anchorage of the sheet material 5. Between such points I of anchorage the bodies of the sheets 5 are unattached to the panels, and in such unattached areas the bodies of the sheets 5, together with the sheets 6 applied thereto, form in effect a multiplicity of flexible diaphragms, which, extending substantially in common plane with the outer face of the panel assembly, are adapted to yield and compensate or make accommodation for the usual settling and expansion and contraction of the inner wall structure I, 2, all without affecting the continuity and appearance of the outer wall surface. Thus it is that cracks or fissures do not develop in the exposed surface cloth, or metal foil, or of composite sheets of such materials. The sheets 6 are secured over substantially their entire areas to the screen. An animal or vegetable glue, or an elastic cement, may be used to secure the sheets 6 to the screen 5, .much in the same manner as such adhesives are commonly employed in the application of Wall paper to plaster walls. The seams 60 between the successive sheets 6 will ordinarily be butt seams, although they may be lap seams, as shown. It is important to note that such seams 60 are staggered or offset with respect to the seams 52 between the screen sheets 5 upon which they are secured. Additionally, the seams 68 are preferably, though not essentially, staggered or offset with respect to the seams 2!] between the panels. The described arrangement of the seams is important, that the exposed wall surface in service will remain substantially smooth, and that the filtration of air through the wall will be effectively inhibited or prevented. With such desiderata in mind, it is to be noted that the seams as between the panels 2 may be sealed, say by means of strips of adhesive paper or cloth tape 2%, as shown in Fig. II. Indeed, the seams between the inner sheets 5 of screen may be overlaid or covered with such tape, or with a filler cement, but in the case of the latter seams 59 it is the matter of smoothness and. not of hermetic sealing that we have in mind.

The wall structure described is of high acoustic and thermal insulating properties. The panels are of heat insulating value, and the insulating effect of the panels is augmented by the sheets 5 and 6 applied thereto. That is to say, the perforations or openings in the sheets 5 of wire screen provide between the panels and the outer sheets 6 a myriad of dead air spaces which in known way operate with thermal insulating effect.

Considering the matter of sound absorption or acoustics: The panels described are of nonresonant and sound-deadening characteristics. The assembled sheets 5 and 8 increase the acoustic value of the panels. Specifically, the areas of the flexible screen 5 between the points of anchorage l, with the sheets 6 applied thereto, are in effect diaphragms that vibrate under impinging sound waves, and the energy of the sound waves is in large measure thus dissipated. Additionally, the body of the outer facing 6 provides over the areas of the reticulations or openings in the screen 5 minute diaphragms that, within the expanse of the larger diaphragms, are adapted to vibrate under impinging sound waves and so augment the desired effect.

In case the panels id be used in the construction of the main wall-forming body, we have found that the desired acoustical character of the wall structure can be further improved by perforating one of the sheets or members 9, l0 that form the panel. Specifically, the member of the panel (the sheet 9 in this case) that in the wall assembly receives upon its face the inner flexible sheets 5 is provided throughout its expanse with perforations HZ. In View of the fact that the perforate sheet 9 is backed by the impervious sheet if), no objectionable movement of air through the wall body can take place, although within the body of the wall there is a breathing of air through the perforations I2 that enhances the effect of. the flexible facing 6 in dampening sound. Additionally, the perforated or aerated wall structure tends to inhibit the flow of heat through the wall, sothat the insulating and the fire-resistant qualities of structure are improved. The inner facing of the screen of metal has also been found beneficial in increasing the fire-resistant qualities of our Wall.

Whereasthe wall-forming assembly of panels 2 (or 2a and sheets 5 and. 5 is in Fig. I shown to be supported on studding, it will be understood that such assembly may be borne upon supports of other forms. Indeed, we contemplate that our structure may be assembled upon the surfaces of walls already built-brick walls, plaster walls, and the like. And the structure may be used in the reconstruction or refacing of complete walls that have been in service for some time and need refinishing; in which event it may in some cases be feasible to dispense with the panels 2, or 2a that form the body of the wall illustrated, and to use the body of the preexisting wall to support in the organization, described the flexible sheets 5 and facing e.

We have named several sorts of sheets 5 and 6 that may be used in the construction of the wall of the invention with good results. We have found, however, that greatest perfection is obtained-when the sheets 5 are formed of wire screen and the outer sheets 6 of metal foil, applied to the screen with a thin film or layer of dielectric material arranged between the screen and the foil. In such way the assembly of sheets forms diaphragmatic electric condensers which operate in the earths magnetic field with highest efficiency in the dampening of sound. Typically, an aluminum fell on a backing of paper provides an ideal material for the sheets 5. In the assembly the paper-a dielectric materia1lies between th screen and the foil. The sheets of paper-backed foil may be minutely perforated (as shown at 8) over its entire area, with the consequence that the desired elasticity or flexibility of the diaphragms is increased. These latter features of structure, and the theory of operation, are more fully described in the copending application above noted.

We claim as our invention:

1. A heat-insulating and acoustic Wall structure comprising a plurality of panels assembled and secured edge to edge in common plane, a flexible open-work sheet applied to the face of the panel assembly in overlapping relation with respect to the seams between the panels in such assembly, said sheet being anchored or attached to the panel assembly at a plurality of spacedapart points, providing between the points of attachment yieldable unattached areas of the sheet, and a thin flexible facing applied and secured to such sheet.

2. A heat-insulating and acoustic wall structure comprising a plurality of panels assembled and secured edge to edge in common plane, a plurality of sheets of flexible Wire screen applied ineclge-to-edge relation on the face of the panel assembly, the bodies of the sheets extending across the seams between the panels in such assembly, with the sheets anchored to the panels at spaced-apart points in th expanse of. the assembly, and a facing of flexible sheet material applied to the surface of the so-assembled and so-anchored perforate sheets, and over the points of anchorage of the sheets to the panels.

3. A heat-insulating and acoustic wall structure including a wall-forming body having a plane face, a plurality of flexible, perforate metal sheets assembled in edge-to-edge relation upon such face, said sheets being attached and anchored to such body of the wall at spaced-apart points in the expanse of the assembled sheets, and a facing comprising paper-backed metal foil applied paper side inward to the so-anchored flexible sheets and forming with the unattached areas of such sheets a plurality of flexible diaphragms.

4. The structure of claim 2, in which said panels consist each in a plurality of panel-forming sheets integrated in parallel, spaced-apart relation.

5. A heat-insulating wall structure comprising a plurality of panels assembled edge to edge in common plane, the bodies of said panels being formed of a plurality of panel members integrated in parallel, spaced-apart relation, a plurality of sheets of flexible material applied in edge-toedge relation on the face of the panel assembly, the bodies of the sheets anchored to the panels at spaced-apart points in the expanse of the assembly, and a facing of flexible material applied to the so-anchored sheets, the sheet-receiving body members of said panels being perforate.

6. A heat-insulating and acoustic wall structure including a substantially smooth wall body, a plurality of flexible sheets of wire screen assembled in substantially flush edge-to-edge relation and attached at spaced-apart points to the wall body, leaving in the assembly of sheets a plurality of unattached areas, and a flexible facing of sheet material applied to and secured to the outside surface of such wire screen, whereby a plurality of flexible diaphragms is provided.

EDUARD SCHENK. CHRISTIAN J. HERZOG. 

